IWSC Season 2 Grammar Challenge One-Shots
by ninjadevil2000
Summary: A series of unrelated one-shots written for the IWSC Grammar Challenge Chap 1: Teddy and Bill, Chapter 2: Remus and Sirius, Chapter 3: Draco/Ginny, Chapter 4: Drarry, Chapter 5: Harry and Ron, Chapter 6: Percy/Oliver
1. Bill and Teddy

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, places, etc.**

**Author's Note: This is going to be a series of one-shots written for the IWSC Grammar Challenge.**

**School and Year: Mahoutokoro, Year 3**

**Round 1 Technique: Introductions**

**Prompt: [Character] Bill Weasley**

**Word count: 899**

* * *

"Uncle Bill?" Teddy called, stepping out of Shell Cottage's fireplace. "Bill, are you here?"

"Teddy?" It was Fleur. She came downstairs, holding little Louis in her arms. "Teddy, is everything alright?"

"Oh, everything's fine, Aunt Fleur," Teddy said. "Did I wake Louis?" he asked guiltily, noticing the little boy's face which looked tired and irritated beyond his age.

"Oh no, he vas already awake," Fleur said with a smile. "Bill isn't here though, I'm afraid. Ze goblins called him off to Gringotts to break a old curse on a vault ze found."

Teddy nodded, disappointed.

"Can I help?" Fleur asked, moving into the kitchen.

"No, not really. I just –– I want to talk to him about something," Teddy replied with a shrug.

Fleur nodded and gave her fifteen year old nephew a smile. She knew how strong Teddy's connection was with Bill. It had been strong ever since the boy had been quite little. They had connected instantly. Fleur had thought that perhaps it had something to do with Bill having been attacked by Greyback like Remus was, and when Teddy was old enough, he confirmed that, saying, "Uncle Bill smells like Daddy."

"Vell, he should be back soon, so you can vait for him if you like," Fleur offered.

Teddy smiled. "Alright, thanks."

Fleur nodded. "Now, if you're here, entertain your cousin a bit, vy don't you?"

Teddy's grin widened as he took his cousin from Fleur's arms. Louis immediately started to giggle as Teddy changed his hair from blue to orange to magenta to emerald, varying through every color Teddy could think of, even making it bright white at one point. Time passed quickly as he entertained the little boy, making sure to be careful not to let Louis pull on his earring.

"Hi, Uncle Bill!" Teddy called as his uncle entered through the front door some time later.

"Hey, Ted," Bill said with a smile. "How's my favorite nephew doing?" He came over and picked up Louis, pulling Teddy into a side hug with his free arm.

"I'm doing all right," Teddy said with another shrug.

Bill ruffled his hair, which had now returned to its normal shade of turquoise.

"You staying for dinner?" he asked, heading into the kitchen and giving Fleur a quick kiss on the cheek.

"No. I mean, I probably ought not to. Harry and Ginny are expecting me back."

Bill nodded.

"Um, Bill?" Teddy said, swallowing. "Can –– Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, what is it?"

Teddy took a deep breath. "Uh –– okay. Um . . ." He rubbed his wrist with his hand, fiddling with the moon tattoo he'd gotten last year. It showed the cycles of the moon, but it also served as something to fidget with when nervous, as it moved and flitted over his arm when touched.

Fleur realized this must be hard enough on Teddy without her and Louis there, so she left, giving Teddy a shoulder squeeze as she passed him.

Bill smiled at him. "Here," he said. He reached over to another counter and pulled out the jar of biscuits Grandma Molly always made sure was full.

Teddy smiled his thanks, pulling a biscuit out of the jar and biting into it.

"You ready to tell me what's got you nervous?" Bill asked.

Teddy took a deep breath again. "Okay. Uh, geez, this is harder than I thought it'd be –– okay, so, I like girls . . . and boys."

Bill blinked, startled for a moment, obviously not having expected this revelation. But after a moment, he smiled. "Okay," he said.

"Okay?" Teddy said, biting his lip.

"Okay," Bill repeated again. "You need to be happy and know who you are, so if liking boys and girls both is who you are, then I have no objections or complaints," he said. "You should know, Teddy, we will accept you for who you are. Your personality is no different, so what does it matter who you like?"

Teddy sighed. "It makes me really happy to hear you say that," he said with a relieved smile. Bill was his role model. He'd always wanted to be like his uncle Bill. Cool, rocking the "goth muggle vibe" as Bill called it, enduring the frowns from Grandma Molly when she saw his tattoo or his ear piercing.

"Where's Aunt Fleur? I want to tell her now too," he added with a laugh.

Fleur also took the news amazingly. She hugged Teddy so tight that his hair flashed different colors; Bill couldn't help but join the hug a second later.

"Now, Teddy," Bill began as the boy finally withdrew from Bill's and Fleur's embrace to go back to the Potter household, "This is your life and we won't tell anybody what you've told us today. Just know that we'll be there to support you every step of the way."

"Thanks," Teddy said, his voice slightly thicker than it had been a second ago. He hugged them one last time, changed his hair color again for little Louis who sat nearby, before retreating to the fireplace.

"And Teddy?" Bill said quickly before Teddy stepped into the fireplace. "I don't exactly know how people will react, but if you ever want to _or_ need to, just remember that you're always welcome here. You always have been."

Teddy nodded. "Okay. Thanks again."

Bill nodded and gave his nephew another smile as green flames engulfed the turquoise hair.


	2. Let Me Help

**Disclaimer: I don't own HP**

**Author's Note: I loved writing this little fic. I decided to add some Wolfstar vibes also since I'd never written the pairing before ;)**

**Grammar School Round 2 **

**Mahoutokoro, Year 3**

**Technique: Dialogue tags and action beats**

**Prompt: Animagus**

**Word count: 806**

* * *

"Listen to me, Moony!" Sirius begged. It was just the two of them at Grimmauld Place now. Nobody else had dropped by all day.

Remus sat at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in his pale shaky hands. "No, Sirius," he said. And though his body was obviously starting to weaken, preparing for it's transformation this evening, Sirius still heard the determination in his voice.

"I'm not letting you do this alone again," Sirius insisted.

"I've been dealing with it just fine by myself for nearly fifteen years, Sirius," Remus said. "I can deal with it again tonight." His tone was dry and weary, but Sirius wouldn't hear of it.

"But that's the point, Moony!" Sirius cried, exasperated by his friend's stubbornness. "You don't have to! I'm here, ready and willing to stay by your side like when we were kids! Please, stay here tonight. I'll put up Silencing charms. It won't be a problem."

"Sirius, NO!" Remus yelled. He stood up quickly. "It's different now, okay?"

"How is it any more dangerous then when you transformed at Hogwarts?" Sirius said indignantly. "Remus, I've seen you over the past few months, coming over here with fresh scars, looking weaker and weaker with every transformation. It kills me to see you like that! Please, Moony. Please let me be there for you, like you've been there for me all these past months."

Remus hesitated. "I – I don't want to hurt you," he whispered.

"You've never hurt me before," Sirius said softly.

Remus raised an eyebrow.

Sirius shrugged. "Okay, maybe you did occasionally give me a scratch but it was nothing I couldn't handle, and it wasn't your fault."

"Exactly!" Remus said. "I can't control it! What if I hurt you? Badly? It's different now without – without James."

Sirius swallowed.

"James was the one who was always able to keep me down if something happened. If I was extra violent or something, he was able to stop me with his antlers. He was able to stop me from hurting you three."

Sirius didn't say anything. He knew what Remus was saying to be true. James had indeed been the strongest of them, due to his Quidditch skills as a human and his strong hooves and antlers as a stag.

Sirius couldn't help but crack a small smile as he thought of all the odd traits him and James had picked up after becoming Animagi.

"You remember that time at the end of fifth year?" Sirius began softly. "It was a few months after we had become Animagi and all our exams were over. We were sitting out by the lake."

Remus nodded. "And James was eating grass," he said with a laugh. He fell back into the chair again, a tad paler but smiling. "He didn't even realize he was eating it until you pointed it out to him. And then he shot back with how we had all seen you bury that chicken bone from dinner the night before."

Sirius started to laugh too. "Remember how he stopped sleeping through the night eventually?"

Remus smiled a bit wider. "Remember how he wouldn't even sleep in his bunk sometimes? He'd sleep on the floor."

Sirius laughed loudly, a bark-like sound with a hint of a howl in it.

But after a second, the smile started to fade. "I miss him. So much."

Remus pressed his lips together. "Me too, Pads."

"Remus, please," Sirius said after another moment. "I want to help you and – and I don't want to be alone either." His eyes were empty. "We can get through it. Together."

It took a moment, a moment of seeing the sadness and loneliness in his friend's eyes, but Sirius was relieved to finally see the smallest of nods from Remus.

"Fine, but if something happens, if I hurt you, I'm not doing it again. I'm not going to be responsible for you getting hurt."

Sirius nodded. "Fair enough. But I know you won't hurt me. I trust you with my life."

* * *

The next morning, Remus lay on the floor of the attic. He was pale and shaky, a few fresh cuts lingering on his skin, but Sirius had fetched some blankets and some healing potions. Sirius was relatively pleased. The amount of cuts Remus now bore was much less than the average amount he'd been bearing during these latest transformations.

Sirius gently placed a wet cloth to Remus' arm where a fresh cut stood out. Red and swollen against the otherwise pale skin. Sirius had a few small cuts, but nothing serious. He quickly cleaned and covered them before Remus stirred.

"Thank you," Sirius said softly to the sleeping Remus. Sirius gently picked his friend up in his arms and took him downstairs where he laid him on the couch. "Thank you for letting me help."

* * *

**Author's Note II: So the parts about James' sleeping patterns and eating grass were inspired by the fact that deer eat grass, doze (not sleep), and sleep on the ground, usually against hard trees or stones. I believe that humans take on some traits of their Animagus forms. We know this because of Sirius and Peter but we never hear about it for James so I thought I'd talk about that a bit. Hope you liked it. And reviews? VVVV**


	3. She Was His Angel (And He Was Hers)

**Disclaimer**: I don't like to lie but . . . yeah, no they're not mine.

**IWSC Grammar Challenge Round 3**

**Prompt**: [Dialogue/Quote] "Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I'm one of them." – Sherlock.

**Technique:** Dialogue flow

**Word count**: 663

**8th year AU**

I can't believe I wrote this honestly. It was originally gonna be a slow burn fic but that definitely did NOT happen. Anyways, I hope ya'll enjoy. Drinny is an OTP of mine so I really loved writing this. Please review :)

* * *

Draco finished lunch quickly before hurrying out into the Entrance Hall and standing near the doors of the Great Hall. As people passed him, he stared some down, ignoring others, not paying much attention until a glimpse of fiery red hair caught his eye.

"Weasley," he called. Ginny Weasley turned her head.

"What is it, Malfoy?" she asked. Draco approached her as some of the stragglers from lunch left the Great Hall and made their way to classes or common rooms.

When he glanced up and saw nobody around, he smiled slightly at Ginny as they joined hands and walked down the hall to a small corridor behind a tapestry.

"How's your day been?" Draco asked before kissing Ginny lightly.

"Boring as usual," Ginny said, though her words were slightly muffled by Draco's lips. "Hermione was pestering me this morning about how I should start seeing other people. I didn't tell her that I already was."

"You're seeing someone else?" Draco said, pulling back suddenly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Yeah. _You_, you idiot." She punched his shoulder lightly.

"Oh," Draco muttered, feeling stupid. "Sorry."

His heart jumped as Ginny smiled at him and kissed him again.

Too soon, they heard the bell ring and, peering out behind the tapestry, they separated.

Ginny winked at him over her shoulder as she headed towards Transfiguration. Draco smiled before grabbing his bag from the floor beside him and heading outside to the greenhouses.

It had been such a shock when Ginny had first come to speak to him at the first of the year. Draco had no longer had a group of Slytherins following him around like he used to. He only had a few friends that stuck by him. Blaise, Theo, Daphne and Astoria, but that was about it.

All the other Slytherins, Pansy included, wouldn't even speak to him, saying that he was a traitor and coward.

One day, about a week into the semester, Ginny Weasley had come over to the Slytherin table. She sat down across from him, her eyes looking at him as though she saw right through him.

"Malfoy," she had said.

"Weasley," Draco had responded in kind.

"I don't think you're a bad person," she'd said, straightforward and honest. Draco had been shocked. Nobody had ever spoken out to him like that, let alone on the topic of his morale.

"You must be so naive," Draco had spat at her.

She hadn't been phased. She merely sat there and looked at him. After a moment, she spoke. "Draco Malfoy, I want you to listen to me. I'm not naive. You must remember what happened in your second year. I've known what was going on out there in the world, not matter how hard my dear old mother tried to keep me from it. I can only imagine the horrors you've seen and the horrors you've had to deal with."

Draco hadn't known what to say. He had merely watched and listened to her. It was while she was speaking to him that he had noticed how pretty she was. Strong and brave and beautiful too.

When Ginny had left him at lunch that day, Draco sat there for what felt like an hour, thinking about what she'd said. And then, when they'd started seeing each other a few weeks later, Draco had decided to be honest with her.

He told her about his family, the deals they'd made with Voldemort, the struggle he'd had with trying to kill Dumbledore, and more.

Once, she'd called him an angel.

"Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them," Draco had said to her.

Ginny smiled at him when he said that. "You're my angel," she'd said. "Maybe you don't have fluffy white wings or a halo but you're an angel to me."

That's when they'd shared their first kiss.

Now, she was his angel. And he was hers.


	4. Drarry

**IWSC Grammar School Round 4**

**School and Year:** Mahoutokoro, Year 3

**Prompt:** [plot point] Sexual rights

**Technique:** Commas (I just chose three random types: attributing commas, Oxford commas, and coordinating commas)

**Word count:** 989

So I hope you guys like this. This is my first time ever writing Drarry so if you have any tips on how to write it better or anything, let me know. I don't particularly ship it but it's a pairing I'd like to write more of.

* * *

"Harry, come on, let's go!" Draco called from the front door.

"Coming!" Harry called back.

"Why do we have to do this again?" Draco groaned as he shut the front door behind him and his fiancé a moment later.

"Dray, you know why. We've already looked at every Wizarding bakery around here and none of them were working out. You had a complaint about literally every cake, so we're going to Muggle bakeries now."

"It was a rhetorical question, genius," Draco said, dry humor evident.

They got in the car as Harry drove them to their first tasting. Their wedding was in two months, and they were currently in the midst of figuring out what kind of cake they wanted.

Harry quite liked the white vanilla cake they tried at the first bakery, but Draco wasn't a massive fan of the buttercream frosting so they politely left, saying they'd call if they decided to hire them or not.

Draco smirked as the door shut behind them. "Do you really think they expect a call back?"

Harry lightly jabbed his fiancé's side with his elbow. "It's just being polite, Dray."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Draco said. "At any rate, I'm glad I've got you to be the nice one in this relationship. You can help me improve my bedside manner," he said with a wink.

Harry laughed and rolled his eyes as he and Draco got in the car to drive to another bakery. They held hands as the car made their way through the streets, listening to the Muggle radio station Harry liked. Draco would never admit it, but he rather liked the music too.

The second bakery was average. Neither of them were terribly impressed so they left and went on to the third one.

"Hello," a young woman said kindly from behind the counter as Harry and Draco entered the little shop known as Lake of Cakes.

"Hi," Harry said, smiling. "We have an appointment for a wedding cake tasting."

The woman smiled. "Of course." She looked down at a sheet of paper in front of her. "The Potter-Malfoy wedding?"

Harry and Draco both nodded.

"I thought it was gonna be the Malfoy-Potter wedding," Draco muttered good-naturedly to his fiancé.

"Right this way, please," she said. She led them to a table at the side of the shop where small plates lay scattered across the surface, each one carrying a thin slice of cake for them to taste.

Harry and Draco tasted them all, but none of them really jumped out at either of them until they tasted the final one. A beautiful red velvet with a cream cheese frosting and white chocolate ganache drizzled on top.

When Harry and Draco tasted it, they couldn't help but exchange a look.

"Oh my god," Harry said, taking another bite.

The girl, Torenia was her name, laughed. "It's good, isn't it?" she said. "That's my favorite out of all the cakes we sell."

"That's the one, I think," Draco said, setting his fork down.

Harry nodded. "I agree. I've never tasted anything like it."

Torenia nodded. "Wonderful." She smiled. "Well, how about I go get our decoration book and you can see if there're any decoration ideas you might like."

Harry nodded as she exited.

Draco glanced over at Harry before grabbing the fork again and shoveling the final bit of cake into his mouth, pretending he hadn't seen Harry roll his eyes.

As he and Harry waited for Torenia to return, they suddenly heard raised voices coming from the kitchen.

They exchanged a look as the voices grew louder and they were able to catch snippets of what was being said.

"I won't make it!"

"And why not? You've made dozens of wedding cakes!"

"Not for people like that!"

"Like what? People in love? People who want a fantastic wedding? What do you have against it?"

"It's unnatural!"

But then there was a loud clang and the voices quieted again.

Harry and Draco exchanged looks. They knew exactly what Torenia and the man had been arguing about.

"Do – Do you want to just go?" Harry asked quietly.

Draco shook his head, anger gracing his face. "No, I want to go find that guy and hex him so much he won't be able to walk for two years."

He made to stand up but Harry just grabbed his wrist and held him back.

"Calm down, love," he said. He stood up next to Draco. "Let's just leave."

But as the couple made their way toward the doors, Torenia came out from the kitchen. She caught sight of them leaving and hurried towards them.

"Please, wait," she said.

Draco and Harry paused.

"I'm so so sorry about that," she continued, the remorse in her voice evident. "It's my father. He's very old-fashioned and isn't – well – he's not the most accepting person. I completely understand you guys leaving."

She gave them an apologetic smile. "Here." She pulled a card out of her pocket and held it out to them. "This is my grandmother's bakery over on 23rd St. It's not as big as our bakery here, but she has the same recipes. She makes the same red velvet."

Draco took the card.

"She's older, but she's more accepting if you can believe it," Torenia said with a laugh.

Harry nodded. "Thanks, Torenia."

She nodded and opened the door for them. "Congratulations, by the way. I'm sure your wedding will be amazing."

Harry and Draco smiled one last time before Torenia closed the door and they made their back to the car.

Harry and Draco did indeed visit Torenia's grandmother's shop. The older woman was incredibly kind and apologized for her son profusely like Torenia had. They ended up hiring her to make them a beautiful cake for their wedding.

After all, both Harry and Draco knew all too well: just because you're family doesn't mean you agree.


	5. Harry and Ron

**Disclaimer:** Really? I'm flattered :)

IWSC Grammar Challenge Round 5

**School and Year:** Mahoutokoro, Year 3

**Technique:** Flashbacks

**Prompt:** [Action] Waiting (Ron waiting for Harry to wake up)

**Word count**: 852

* * *

It had been such a stupid argument, Ron now realized, sitting there at his best friend's bedside, silently cursing himself into oblivion.

Him and Harry, as well as a couple of other Auror cadets, had been on a training mission. Harry and Ron, as usual, had been chosen to lead the mission, but they had had different strategical ideas.

Generally, Harry followed Ron's advice on the strategy part of planning, for he knew how Ron's mind worked. How Ron could see steps ahead, plan for error, see into the enemy's weak spots, but this time Harry had wanted to do things his way.

As Ron watched his friend sleep fitfully in the bed at St. Mungo's, unconscious, dimly lit by yellow lamplight, he wasn't sure which plan had been better. Not that he cared anymore. Whichever plan they'd chosen, he knew he and Harry shouldn't have been separated. But that's what had happened; they'd argued, then when they got out into the field, they split up.

The tension had just been too high.

Ron took a deep, shaky breath. Maybe if he'd been at Harry's side, he'd have been able to catch sight of the booby traps laid around the old Death Eater hideout and would've been able to get to Harry sooner, save him from that piece of falling cement.

But no. He hadn't gotten there in time, so Harry was knocked out by the falling debris and now, he had yet to wake up.

"I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered, leaning forward, hoping his friend could hear him. His elbows rested on his knees and his face in his hands.

It was dark outside, heavy clouds preventing any trace of moonlight from entering the room. Hermione had left about an hour or so ago, but Ron had refused to leave, only getting up once or twice to stretch his legs or grab another cup of coffee.

Ron sighed. The healer said it was only a concussion and didn't seem too serious. They'd know more when he woke up, she had said.

Ron eventually found himself looking back on his and Harry's previous arguments. In all their years of friendship, they'd really only had two. There had been the one in fourth year, which had been so stupid on Ron's part. Jealousy and a bruised ego had driven a wedge between him and Harry.

But by far the worst thing to ever happen was during what should've been their seventh year at Hogwarts, but instead, was him, Harry, and Hermione tracking down horcruxes.

The words he had yelled that night rang in his ears loudly, as loud as if he'd yelled them just now in the hospital.

_"__We thought you knew what you were doing!"_

_"__We thought you had a real plan!"_

_"__You don't care!"_

_"––__with your parents safely out of the way ––"_

That last sentence rang louder than the others. The impact of those words… he can only imagine how they affected Harry.

Harry didn't have any family of his own. Harry's family was _him_. Ron and Hermione and the Weasleys. It always had been. Hell, ever since that first train ride to Hogwarts when they'd been eleven, something had been there. A bond that had grown into the strongest friendship he'd ever known, something that would never easily be broken. Maybe it would be dented, some cracks driven through it, but as long as Ron could help it, nothing would ever break that wall down completely.

Ron shook his head, trying to clear it. It had started to rain outside the hospital, rain pounding on the nearby window. To some the sound might sound soothing, but to Ron, it just made the entire fight come flooding back again, triggering it all. It sounded just like the large raindrops that had been falling heavily that night in the tent.

The words he'd thrown at Harry, Hermione too. It all echoed around his skull. Ron was lost in the chasm of memories for longer than he knew. He couldn't have escaped something suddenly startled him, pulling him up from the dark depths of regret.

A weak groan.

"Harry?" Ron muttered immediately. "Harry, how're you feeling?"

"Ron? What happened?" Harry tried to sit up, but Ron gently pushed him back onto the pillows.

"Relax, mate. The healer said you've got a mild concussion; shouldn't be anything too serious."

"What happened?" Harry asked again, but then he blinked as he looked at Ron. "Are you crying? What's going on? Did something else happen?"

Ron couldn't help but laugh as he brushed away the dampness in his eyes. "No, Harry, everything else is fine. Nobody else got hurt. Just –– I'm sorry."

"For what?" Harry asked, looking genuinely puzzled.

"For being such an arse. Not just earlier with the strategizing, but every time I've ever done something annoying or stupid or wrong. Especially –– especially _that_."

"That?" Harry repeated, still puzzled.

Ron laughed. "You're so bloody thick, mate."

Harry smiled. "And sometimes you make no sense."

They both laughed. Ron smiled as his friend turned over and went back to sleep. They'd be okay. They always would.


	6. PercyOliver

**Disclaimer: The characters and world of HP is not mine. I'm merely using them to give my life meaning.**

**School and Year:** Mahoutokoro, Year 3

**Prompt: **[Setting] The Lake

**Technique: **Em dashes, hyphens, and semi-colons

**Word count**: 843

Slightly AU because Percy is in a relationship with Oliver, not Penelope. Set during seventh year (PoA)

Also, yeah I know, I got away from the technique challenge but I fell in love with the story okay? I ain't apologizing for that. LOL. Enjoy and drop a review if you feel like it. They're much appreciated.

* * *

It was a Saturday evening. Percy and Oliver had eaten dinner early so they could go out and sit by the lake for a while before they had to head back to the castle. They both had work to do, but they were with each other in a quiet, cool environment, so it didn't feel much like work.

Percy had some parchment and a few books laid out in front of him, studying for his NEWTs, while Oliver had some sketchboards and diagrams, thinking about the Quidditch final.

Percy may not always understand Oliver's fascination with Quidditch but he respected it; and he couldn't help but admire the effort Oliver put into his planning and tactic creating.

"It's getting close to curfew," Percy murmured.

Oliver looked up, his neck audibly cracking as he rolled his shoulders. "Yeah, it is," he agreed, glancing at his watch. "And I can't believe I'm saying this, but if I look at one more diagram tactic I might…" Oliver trailed off, searching for a proper metaphor.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, I can't believe I'm saying _this_, but I feel the same. If I read one more sentence about the laws of Transfiguration tonight my brain might explode."

"Well, we can't have that," Oliver said teasingly. He laid aside the diagrams in the grass beside him and leaned towards Percy, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

Percy smiled, playfully shoving Oliver away. "You do realize we're in the middle of the grounds right? Anybody could see us at any moment."

"Who cares?" Oliver said, shrugging. He reached up and pulled off Percy's glasses.

"I'm the Head Boy, Oliver," Percy said, mildly irritated but trying not to laugh.

"And I'm the Quidditch Captain," Oliver shot back. "Trust me, I think everybody believes we're in a relationship anyways."

"And who's fault is that?" Percy said. "You're the one who keeps trying to hold my hand during classes."

"Is it a crime to want to hold your boyfriend's hand?" Oliver said.

Percy rolled his eyes again but smiled. "No, I suppose not."

He and Oliver laid back on the grass, holding hands.

People who didn't know them together and only knew them individually, would think it was crazy for them to be in a relationship together; the main reason being that they had complete opposite views on schoolwork and Quidditch. While Percy was an avid learner, Oliver only studied enough to keep his grades up. And while Oliver was incredibly enthusiastic about Quidditch, Percy didn't see much appeal in it.

But when you took away the difference in interests, Percy and Oliver were more similar than you'd think. They were both ambitious and hardworking. They were both perfectionists, always working on their essays or tactics late into the night.

Not too rarely, you could find Percy and Oliver sitting together in the common room at four o'clock in the morning. They'd play the old Muggle turntable in the corner of the room, a classic record like Fleetwood Mac or the Rolling Stones playing softly as they worked.

And Percy had his moments of fun. He was just extremely reluctant to show them in front of people like his family, teachers, and friends. Anyone really, who wasn't Oliver. He couldn't explain why but — ever since they'd been kids — Percy had always felt at ease around Oliver. The child in him had always felt staunched, so being around someone like Oliver, someone who had the perfect balance between child and adult, brought out those buried laughs and jokes.

Maybe it was a symptom of 'middle child syndrome' as Muggles called it. There was Bill and Charlie, making a name for themselves before any of the others. Fred and George, the pranking jokesters who automatically summoned attention, and Ron and Ginny, the babies of the family.

Which left Percy.

Now, sitting by the lake with Oliver, Percy felt like he could just be himself. They quizzed each other on Quidditch facts or Charm theories, laughing when the other got the answers incredibly wrong. When one's eyes would close, the other would sometimes pull up a handful of grass and throw it in the other's face, or take their wand and pull water from the lake, dumping it over the other's robes.

They knew they had to go back to the castle; that didn't mean they wanted to though. Percy held up a pompous, prideful mask when around others, and if he was honest with himself, it was exhausting. But at the end of the day, he had Oliver there to keep him just childish enough, happy enough.

"What if we just stayed out here all night?" Oliver asked suddenly.

Percy blinked, pulled from his thoughts. "What?" he asked with a laugh. "You're crazy, Ollie."

"No, I'm serious." Oliver propped himself up on his elbow. "It's not like McGonagall does roll call."

"Uh, you do remember that there's a mass murderer on the loose right?" Percy said, though he grinned.

"Who cares?" Oliver said, leaning down and kissing Percy. "We've got each other, don't we?"


End file.
